Akram Yari () was a Hazaras Maoist political organizer in Afghanistan. He was the leader and founder of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), a Marxist–Leninist organization which was formed on October 6, 1965.
Early years
Akram Yari was born in
Jaghori,
Ghazni Province, Afghanistan and belonged to
Hazaras ethnic group. He was the son of a monarchist landowner.
Later he moved to
Kabul where he studied
physics and
mathematics.
After graduating, he became a teacher at Naderya School in Kabul, where he engaged in a political
propaganda campaign among his students. As a result, he was fired from his job and he returned to Jaghori. Upon returning to Jaghori, Yari decided to hand over his family's possessions to the peasants.
Political activism
Akram Yari was the founder and leader of Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), a
Maoism organization, founded on October 6, 1965. PYO published a magazine called
Shola-e-Jawid (Eternal Flame) which was circulated among students and youth.
Akram Yari opposed the monarchy of Zahir Shah, the Islamic fundamentalists, and the pro-Soviet Union People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). PYO adhered to Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong thought, and rallied for the overthrow of the incumbent order in Afghanistan by means of civil war. Yari was additionally an
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Influence
Under Akram Yari's leadership, PYO had strong support among the masses of workers and students in the cities of Afghanistan. Among the people of Afghanistan, the movement that PYO led is famous by the name of
Shola-e-Jawid and its members were commonly known as the
Sholayis (Flamists), after the name of their journal.
Akram Yari was a teacher and propagator of Marxism and introduced Marxism to a large number of intellectuals and political activists in Afghanistan, among them Dr. Faiz Ahmad, founder of Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO).
Arrest and assassination
In 1978 the pro-Soviet PDPA came to power through
Saur Revolution. The PDPA government began a crackdown on PYO cadres. Akram Yari was arrested at his home in
Jaghori District, transferred to
Kabul and later killed by the PDPA government. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are not known.
See also
-
Progressive Youth Organization
-
Shalleh-ye Javiyd
-
List of Hazara people
External links
